Young gifted and gloom…?

South African youth are constantly reminded that they have much to be appreciative of. Being born into a free country, abundant opportunities, quality education, a promising future and growing up in an non sexist, no racial and inconclusive South Africa.  If so why is it that most young people I come across so despondent, unmotivated and doubtful of the direction the country is currently on and ever getting their share of the “South African dream?

Twitter was a buzz after US president Barack Obama managed to secure a second term in office beating Republican challenger Mitt Romney in what many pundits refer to as “one of the hotly contested elections in history.” While many were nothing but pleased of this result, it was a bittersweet result for many South Africans who hope for an inspirational leader such as the US president.

Why not us…?

When Obama was giving his victory speech one of my colleagues said “why can’t President Jacob Zuma be like that when he gives a speech? America has problems yes but this man gives you hope that his administration will do much to tackle them.” Another tweeted “Zuma congratulated Obama on his win but was relieved Romney didn’t win because it would have meant him (Zuma) handing over his Worst President Title to the Republican challenger.”

These tongue-in- cheek tweets no matter how playful and sarcastic one might regard them, are a clear indication that most of SA’s youth is despondent with little confidence in our government’s ability to tackle the massive challenges South Africa is confronted with.

President Jacob Zuma last week criticised many for what he called “misguided pessimism” about South Africa and if they did not stop it would bring the country down. Zuma went on to say that his administration had done much in improving many South African’s lives (Nkandla does not count Mr President). The general feeling is that while issues such as Marikana massacre, wildcat mining strikes, increasing unemployment, depilating  education system and persisting inequalities the presidency seems more concerned about building bunkers in Nkandla rather than attending to challenges that SA is embattled with.

Mangaug is not the answer…

The African National Congress elective conference takes place next month where delegates will decide if they support Zuma for a second term (sadly it seems likely) or his reluctant deputy Kgalema Motlanthe will succeed him to the highest office in the land.

Whatever the outcome is many are not confident that this will bring about real change in the way that government deals (or doesn’t) with the countries issues. Graduates are without jobs, poverty is still rife, job creation is stagnant with the middle class complaining that rising costs are making it hard for them to make ends meet. Judging from the wildcat strikes labour union Cosatu has emerged as a hypocritical organisation which lambasts government corruption but still pulled its weight behind Zuma to get another term.

The ANC has a tough road ahead as more and more young people are becoming less patient with the slow pace things seem to be moving for them. The ANCYL was one of Zuma’s loudest supporters at the last elective conference in Polokwane but even they have voiced their dissatisfaction with the current leadership. Julius Malema and co have gone from being prepared to kill for Zuma to cataloguing as the worst president SA has ever produced.

Zuma has an enormous task awaiting him if he is re-elected for a second term as South Africa’s president. With young people struggling to penetrate the job market, education hanging in the balance (WEF ranks us among the worst) and rising living costs the “South African dream” is slowly turning into a pipe dream for many youngsters.

 

Find me on twitter @BongaDlulane.

The Language (D)efect

South Africa is one of a few countries that can boast about having a multicultural society which is so proudly reflected in our colourful flag. We have gone as far as dubbing ourselves the “Rainbow nation” in celebration of our diversity.

This of course has placed us in a unique position when it comes to most countries considering that they have no more than 2 to 3 official languages. We as the Republic of South Africa have a total of 11 official languages. You heard right, we can say hello in eleven languages including English, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Tswana, Zulu, Sesotho among others (this column is not enough to list all of them).

While this may be something we hold dear to our hearts, it does present its own challenges.

Breaking barriers

A colleague of mine recently quizzed me about my generation’s (I don’t know what that means) lack of appreciate for the vernacular language. To quote her she said “kutheni uthanda uthetha isilungu kangaka kodwa uthetha nomntu omnyama” and my immediate response was why shouldn’t I? Does speaking English to my fellow black brother mean I have no respect for the Xhosa language? I don’t think so but sometimes it’s better to say things in the queen’s language.

There have been calls to most schools and universities to start offering classes and lectures in other languages as English and Afrikaans do not represent most of the people in this country.

While I completely agree with this sentiment, how practical is it to have academic institutions offering lectures in all eleven official languages. With our current ailing education system, can it handle the infrastructure that would be needed to implement these plans to promote these ‘neglected’ languages?

Direct translation

President Jacob Zuma in August came under fire for saying that single women need to have kids in order to practice to be mothers. The President further fuelled the fires by saying that in a democracy the minority have less rights to the majority after a parliamentary question was posed by the tenacious DA leader Lindiwe Mazibuko.

Another colleague of mine (I have lots of those) said the media misunderstands the president because he thinks in Isizulu therefore he screws up when he is trying to covert his thoughts to English. The accuracy of this may be a mystery but it’s not completely improbable. Now direct translation is something that is prevalent in a multicultural society like ours.

I wanted to strangle a white lady I was having a conversation with in my daily train ride. Before she got off her stop she made a blunder by saying to me “you speak English so well”. I kid you not. I responded b saying as opposed to what. Now she might have “thought” in Afrikaans by to me what she said sounded demeaning because it suggested she expects blacks to speak XoEnglish.

No matter how she meant it, people should not say that to other people no matter how sincere they’re trying to be.

Indlela endikuthanda ngayo becomes “the road I love you” when translating to English. Do not even get me started on the pronunciation debacle. We have politicians who get away with saying our COW-TRY (country) leaving you wondering how they came up with that word.

We end up with people defending their blunders with the famous phrase “it’s not my mother tongue” or “there is NO school for pronunciation.”

Lessons to be learnt

I recently visited a museum with my colleagues and our guide there gave us a mini history lesson before commencing the walkabout. She said one of our biggest problems in this is that we do not want to learn each other’s languages.

We as various ethnic groups must stop being so concerned about which tribe or language is superior rather appreciate our uniqueness and make an effort to learning other South African languages. If we don’t our colourful Rainbow Nation only exists in our beautiful flag.

@BongaDlulane…

The Education Conundrum

When the World Economic Forum revealed that South Africa was the fifth country with the worst quality of education in the world (no 140/144) I cringed with disbelief as to how could this be true.

Surely this couldn’t be true because we produced the most famous statesman in the world. There must be a mistake because we are the richest economy in the African continent. Why do we have a status as one of the world’s leading gold and platinum producers, if we do not pour that money into growing our economy.

What further perturbed me was the fact that Zimbabwe was no 30 which translates that their education system is first rate compared to SA’s. What? Zimbabwe? This couldn’t be true. This is a country plagued by poverty and inequality because the Western world has imposed sanctions of their long ruling president Robert Mugabe. A number of Zimbabweans are fleeing that country and finding refugee in South Africa. Surely Zimbabwe could not have a better education system I said.

But then it dawned on me that despite these challenges, education is something that Robert Mugabe takes very seriously. He is after all an intelligent man with numerous academic degrees and accolades to his name. While we are stuck with a President that fails to fire a minister who did not make sure that textbooks are delivered to schools in her capacity as Minister of Education.

Now I am not blaming Angie Motshekga for the dire state that this country’s education system is in but when leaders who are elected into office fail to carry out simple tasks like these we are in trouble.

Mamphela Ramphele, Desmond Tutu and Professor Jonathan Jansen have all called on government to fix the ticking time bomb that is education in this country. Instead Zuma replies with an attitude that “we inherited a problem child from the apartheid government which we still trying to rehabilitate.”

Instead of playing the blame game our leaders should be engaging with academics and specialists in the field to try and fix this ailing system. Hire a minister and officials who are there to make change not to spurlge on the latest German luxury car because the ministerial handbook allows them to. Not to rely with a simple “I did not know” when asked why children have no textbooks six months into the school year.

When universities reject students because they are illiterate and cannot count, it’s a reflection that their teachers did a botch job as educators. We need to hire hardworking, dedicated teachers to eviscerate the problem of numeracy and illiteracy in this country.

What is now known as the Marikana massacre is an explain of what happens when a nation is lacking skills, inability to create lucrative job opportunities and quality education not being accessible to most South African’s. This was far more complex than some miners demanding better pay but a reflection of what happens when government fails to better the lives of those who contribute to this country’s economy.

After 18 years of democracy no one is expecting miracles but rather a government that listens to the electorate, delivers on its promises and provide quality education that will translate to the obliteration of poverty, curbing of unemployment and reducing crime.

Therefore government I say to say spare some of the attention you pay to Julius Malema and will start making some headway in tackling SA’s education conundrum…

It’s All Just The Same

Barack Obama has come out (pun intended) and voiced his support for same sex marriage ahead of his all-important second term run for the Oval office.  His supporters have said it’s the trump card he needed to secure another four years while his detractors say that it will be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back in his already fragile campaign.

Mitt Romney’s Republican Party alas the Tea Party is dead set about granting the LGBT community any civil union rights because marriage is about “procreating” in their books. While the liberal Democrats maintain it should not matter if two people want to get married regarding their gender.

This piece is certainly not about the complex American current political situation but it’s about whether two people of the same sex should be allowed to enjoy the same rights as everyone else. Black people in Africa and America where once oppressed because of their skin colour, should the gay community also endure such discrimination and prejudice because of the people they choose to have a relationship with.

Why are people so sensitive when it comes to the issue of same sex relationships? If it is not the church condemning it as biblically wrong, it’s heterosexuals claiming it’s unnatural. But are these the beliefs of a few or are there deep underlining factors that need deeper understanding when it comes to the laws of attraction.

 Having been watching a few medieval television shows lately, I have noticed the sexual relations between men are always present in these shows. Are writers simply using their imaginations in claiming they exited centuries ago or is society so repelled with these homosexual relationships that they condemn them as barbaric behaviour of the current generation?

Of course in a complicated subject like this, one has to tread carefully to avoid accusations of being callous when it comes to other people sexual preferences. What is attraction? How does one define this when they feel it? Does it know any bounds such as race, gender or nationality? Is it something that one can explain or you just know when you feel it?

Religious groups will quote the bible and say “A man shall not lie with another man like he would lie with a woman.” That’s their argument that God created a man and a woman so they could reproduce to grow the Creators children.

Only problem with that scenario is not all of the Earths inhabitants live their lives according to the teachings of David. They will retaliate by saying why should someone else’s beliefs determine the courses that their lives should take.

Popular soaps like Isidingo and Generations have both tackled gay storylines more or less in terms of the modern era. Generations shows a black affluent father and son falling out because the father does not understand his son’s sexuality. To him he would have preferred id he settled down with a young woman and extended the family name.

While Isidingo recently took the approach of a white conservative father who doesn’t want to accept his daughter’s new found lesbian tendencies. To him he always imagined his little girl settling down the conventional way. Now these may be TV characters but real life is not far off.

Life is complicated and sex makes it all the more complex. The issue of sexuality is so sensitive that some individuals would rather stay in the “closet” rather than subject themselves to discrimination and bullying. Now a lot of straight people will tell you that being gay is wrong, say it’s a sickness or unnatural! Now is this really the case or is society so conservative that it fundamentally fears anything it does not understand.

What constitutes a sound and healthy union? Is it having a man and a woman in a relationship or is love so powerful that it can develop between any two individuals regardless of their genetics?

A friend of mine said that society is to blame for all these negative perceptions when it comes to same sex relationships. He said that putting people in boxes and labelling them will never end well as it never did with Apartheid or the Holocaust for example. He went on to say that if you would replace gay with black in all these points, you would say why it is wrong to discriminate against homosexuals.

Is he right? Is society so frightened of change that it’s willing to condemn other peoples lifestyle choices as nothing but sin and immoral? Why do we as “straight” people have problems with the gay folk? If their fraternizing doesn’t affect us, why does it make so many heterosexual people disgusted what same sex couples get up to?

Does the question of being gay or straight define a person exactly the same way as being born black or white? Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King for the better time of their lives fought against being stereotyped because of their skin complexion! Do the same rules apply to the gay community or does race beat sexual orientation hands down when it comes to that debate?

Life choices are mostly probably the one thing that people judge other human beings on. What does he do? Is she a gold digger? His parents have bailed him out of jail a couple of times. I heard she accused her former boss of sexual harassment in her previous job! Are people what they do or is it the other way round?

Sex between a man and a woman is regarded as natural while the opposite is frowned upon. Why? Is it because they cannot pro create? Is it because woman on woman or man on man is something that our backgrounds have taught us it’s wrong and immoral? If so, why? If not, why not?

I guess in all these points that I have levelled or raised, my question still remains! How different is it to judge a person on whom they sleep with from judging a person based on the colour of their skin?  What two people do in the bedroom is there concern, so butt out (pun intended).

Tweet… Share… Tweet… Share

Twitter and Facebook are the world’s most popular social networking sites. Why am I telling you something that you already know? It’s because they are more than just platforms to brag to your friends (yes don’t pretend like you do not) or follow the most popular celebrity.

When news breaks out, Twitters users are the first people to know and start retweeting to their friends. It’s a fast, convenient message 140 characters (take that Zuckerberg). While Facebook is more laid back with no character limitation, it’s were “friends” upload pictures, share a status and connect with old friends in a matter of seconds.

While things have become considerably easier because of our digital lives, it’s not all sunlight and roses when it comes to the world of social networks.

Users as are commonly known for both social platforms have the prerogative to post whatever they feel like on the internet. Pictures, status, posts, links, tweets and opinions are just some of the things we do on social networks.

Problem with the internet is that once you put things there, it’s almost impossible to forget or remove. This is why we have to be extra careful about what we post on the internet. Some of these challenges include:

Bad grammar: I don’t know about you bad most of my Facebook “friends” have difficulty differentiating between loose and lose. “I do not want to LOOSE my love” or “my laces are LOSE” are some of the horrendous mistakes people make.

When you correct someone its either you an ass or you think you are better than everyone else. Twitter and Facebook maybe for social activity but prospective employers are now on these sites. Nobody wants to hire someone who doesn’t know the difference between lose and loose. My advice, read more and make spell check your best friend. After misspelling gullible as gallable on my tweet, I now triple check what I post (thanks @sinovuyo).

Cryptic status and tweets: this is equivalent to putting a sign on your forehand which reads: “I am an attention seeker.”  If you want to say something say it, don’t tease its irritating not interesting. If you don’t want to then shut up nobody is forcing you to say anything. These include, “I can’t believe I just did that” or “is this really happening to me.” What follows is a furore of questions as inquisitive friends probe their friend of what they mean falling for the attention trap.

Know what you talking about: just because you have a twitter and facebook account does not mean we want to hear what you have to say (looking at you Kim Kardeshian). While there is pressure to sound intelligent on social networks refrain from commenting if you know nothing about a certain topic. You will sound dumb, people will crucify you (why do you think people retweet) and you will appear as a bigger idiot than Steve Hofmeyer and Todd Akin combined (thats saying something).

And finally nobody cares what you had for supper, which gym you attend, how much you love your better half or how often you visited the toilet. Tell that to people who want to hear it (I certainly don’t).

Social networks are about socialising, keeping up to date about what is happening around the world and generating interest. So in future before you tweet or share think very carefully about what you want to say…

Solidarity please take a sit...

Solidarity recently made news about how retail giant Woolworths was sidelining whites by advertising posts for people of colour(apparently this is unfair to white peopple). This unimportant issue of course generated a huge media furore(mostly by facetious tweeters) much to the trade union's dismay. Infuriated by Woolies "sidelining" whitey's, Solidarity along with some fanatics in the social networking world called for the boycott of the retail gaint. This promted the influx of sarcastic tweets ranging from serious right wingers to liberal humourous lefties. The media immediately jumped on the band wagon(I hate cliche's by hey) by inviting the corporations chief executive for radio and television interviews. What priqued my interest about this is that some idiot with access to a computer and internet managed to cause a storm in a tea cup, for something s/he is not interested in anyway. People need to take a chill pill and recognise that people of colour are still largely unemployed in this country. While I will be the first to say that BEE is hugely flawed, it doesn't know mean people who have been sidelined by the aparthied government should not be given preference over their white countrymen. Perspacacious City Press editor is an example that a person of colour can achieve so much when given the chance. In her piece titled the "Woolworths boycott brigade" she details how she sometimes felt inferior to some of her white classmates(confident as she is, i find that hard to believe) in varsity by not answering questions even though she knew the answers. This is an example of how the apartheid government set in motion a system that even today people of colour are still suffering the conseqences. This whole thing is not about the trade union trying to protect the rights of workers but about a few who feel that Woolies is being racist against white people. I say to them before getting their panties in a knot, consider the many others out there who will do anything to work as a cashier, cleaner or even security guard at a large retail store like Woolies. For them its about survival and putting food on the table for a family of five cramped in a shoddy shack in Khayelitsha. Affirmative action is not about discrminitating against white minority(get over yourself) but a policy designed to empower those who were once oppressed because they were not born white. This is not about racial profiling but about correcting the wrongs of the past that have left a huge divide our society. While this is a serious matter that deserves much scutiny, the euphoria this employment equity scenario did have a humorous side. One of my favourite tweets about this whole situation went like this "If white women boycott Woolies, think of all the white men that will starve. This could end badly." This showed that South Africans know when not to take some things seriously because they not worth the energy.

An Open Letter Government

South Africa is a country that is full of potential and promise. We are one of the few countries in the world who have had a fairy-tale ending after having a tumultuous past filled with racial oppression at the hands of an insecure minority… After the National Party led government depilated and the dawn of democracy emerged under the once banned African National Congress, a new dawn had risen for a country once condemned by the international community. Oppression was exchanged for reconciliation, racial segregation was replaced by integration and the apartheid government was decapitated by installing a new democratic government. Nelson Mandela a man once imprisoned for treason for 27 years by the minority government was propelled into the highest office of the land as a beacon of hope and champion of human rights for all. A perspicacious Mandela opted for unity and reconciliation to build a better tomorrow for South Africa rather than seek vengeance on those who had wrongly convicted him and his fellow struggle counterparts. This astonished the world and turned further cemented Mandela as a man of peace and nation building. That was 18 years ago and 13 years since the country’s most famous citizen was president of the republic. Now this seems like a story out of a story book. Make no mistake, we are a country that has a lot to offer but has been over shadowed by corruption, service delivery protests, failing education system and recently a wage strike that turned deadly now known as the Lonmin Massacre. The ANC led government has been fiercely criticised for its lack of action against those who are corrupt and financially mismanaging taxpayer’s money. Government seems to be less concerned about obliterating the rampant corrupt officials it has its midst. The latest scandal involving a multi-billion rand Social Development department deal which a judge denounced as illegal but not corrupt. Social Development minister Rethabile Dlamini focused more on the NOT corrupt but and said the contract would stand despite it being illegal. The Northern Cape, Gauteng, Free State and Western Cape have all been plagued with service delivery protests, some turning violent and deadly. After 18 years that South Africans first voted for a better future, these people are still fighting for basic necessities such as decent housing, water, sanitation, roads and functional lavatories. Instead of fast tracking delivery the government is involved into bitter spats with the opposition and shifting blame to the apartheid government. The state of the country’s education system is what many pundits have described as a ticking time bomb. Nobel Laurent Nadine Gordimer, academics Mampele Rampele and Professor Jonathan Jansen have all fiercely criticised the government for the state that education is in. in some instances some learners leave high school without being able to count, read and without the possibility of succeeding in a tertiary institution. The latest in involved the Limpopo province’s department failure to deliver textbooks to students half in the school year. Instead of taking charge of the situation Basic Education minister Angie Motshekga was more concerned about saving her political career when calls for her to be sacked grower louder. Wage disputes are known to get out of hand but the situation at the Marikana Lonmin Platinum turned into a deadly onslaught for the striking miners. Demanding that their wages be increased up from R4000 to R12 500 for drill operators, the illegally instigated strike reached disaster that shocked the country and the international community. After the alleged murder of two police officers at the hands of the striking workers, this unlocked a chain of events that the country is still dealing with its ramifications. Following the growing rage of the miners, police were called in to control the situation. Armed with knob-keries and machetes the miners refused to backed down and tensions cumulated to a point that police with semi-automatic weapons opened fire on the workers killing 34 of them in the process. National commissioner Rhia Piyerha described the onslaught as necessary as police were simply defending themselves. These events have sparked a much needed debate about the direction that the country is currently taking. With some feeling that the government has lost sight of what is truly important. After all President Jacob Zuma was the one who said “the ANC would be in power until Jesus comes.” Maybe this stagnant behaviour that Zuma and his administration have adopted is because they are comfortable and know no matter how much they screw up, they will still be kept in power by the voters. If only the ruling party was as vocal about the country’s problems as they were about the President’s penis. Policies which are in place to improve the lives of South Africans are set aside in favour of frivolous issues such as political points, party squabbles, crushing rivals and regulating the media. Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu fought for more than the current government is doing. Proverty, unemployment, crime and corruption are some of the conundrums that are currently eviscerating the full potential of our country. When President Zuma and his elected cabinet decide to focus on what is truly important, that will be the first signs of true leadership. South Africans deserve more than their current government is offering them. No one is disputing that apartheid set us back but reminiscing about the past will not create a better future. We need leaders who are prepared to act on corruption, implement policies that grow the economy, create jobs, take responsibility when they are wrong and be less consider about the second term will some people are dying of poverty and youth that is despondent because of lack of jobs. That dear government is your job,that is why you are in power.